4,169 Shares in Crane $CR Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Crane (NYSE:CR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,169 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CR. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Crane in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Crane in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Crane by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 219 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Crane by 217.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 279 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Crane during the third quarter valued at about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, Director Susan D. Lynch purchased 150 shares of Crane stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $182.22 per share, for a total transaction of $27,333.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,088.40. The trade was a 214.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jennifer Pollino purchased 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $184.29 per share, for a total transaction of $276,435.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 5,464 shares of company stock valued at $987,470 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CR shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Crane in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research set a $215.00 price target on shares of Crane and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Crane in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Crane from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, CJS Securities raised Crane to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crane presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.00.

Crane Stock Performance

Crane stock opened at $204.77 on Friday. Crane has a fifty-two week low of $127.04 and a fifty-two week high of $214.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $194.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.11.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.10. Crane had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 13.10%.The business had revenue of $581.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $572.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Crane has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.550-6.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Crane will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.32%.

Crane Profile

Crane Co, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is a diversified manufacturer of engineered industrial products serving customers around the world. The company operates through two primary segments: Aerospace & Electronics and Engineered Materials. Its Aerospace & Electronics division designs and produces valves, fittings, manifolds, and filtration systems for aircraft fuel, hydraulics, and environmental control systems. The Engineered Materials segment focuses on advanced polymers, heat exchangers, and specialized composite solutions for industries including chemical processing, semiconductor manufacturing, and power generation.

With roots dating back to its founding in 1855 in Chicago by R.T.